Convert apparent power (kVA) to current (A) or the other way round, for single-phase or three-phase supply, using voltage.
Pick single or three phase, choose the conversion direction, then enter your known values.
Converted using supply voltage
Converting between apparent power (kVA) and current (Amps) is a conversion used constantly when sizing cables, breakers, transformers, and generators, or when cross-checking a nameplate's kVA rating against a measured current draw. Apparent power and current are directly related through voltage, but the exact relationship depends on whether the supply is single-phase or three-phase, because three-phase systems share the load across three conductors rather than two.
In a single-phase system, apparent power is simply the product of voltage and current: kVA = (V × I) / 1000. Rearranged, current can be found from a known kVA value as I = (kVA × 1000) / V. In a three-phase system, the same relationship includes a √3 (approximately 1.732) factor, because the line current in a balanced three-phase system relates to power differently than in single-phase: kVA = (√3 × V × I) / 1000, and conversely I = (kVA × 1000) / (√3 × V). This √3 factor is one of the most frequently used constants in electrical engineering and appears in nearly every three-phase power, current, or sizing calculation.
Note that unlike a kW-current conversion, no power factor is needed here — apparent power (kVA) already represents the total power flowing through a circuit regardless of how much of it is real versus reactive, so it converts to current using voltage alone.
Worked example: Suppose a three-phase distribution panel is rated at 415 V and the connected load draws 80 A. The apparent power demand is kVA = (1.732 × 415 × 80) / 1000 ≈ 57.5 kVA — useful for checking against the upstream transformer or generator's rated capacity. Conversely, if a 100 kVA transformer needs its full-load three-phase current checked at 415 V: I = (100 × 1000) / (1.732 × 415) ≈ 139.1 A, the figure used to size the main breaker and outgoing cable from that transformer.
This tool is especially useful for technicians and engineers who have one known quantity — say, a transformer's kVA nameplate rating — and need the equivalent current to select the correct cable size or protective device, or who have measured current draw and need to express it as an equivalent kVA demand for billing, generator sizing, or load-study purposes.
Apparent power (kVA) already represents the total power flowing through the circuit, combining both real and reactive components. Since kVA is defined directly from voltage and current, no power factor is needed to convert between them — PF only comes into play when converting kVA to real power (kW).
In a balanced three-phase system, the line-to-line voltage and line current are offset by 120° across the three phases. The √3 (≈1.732) factor accounts for this vector relationship between line and phase quantities, and appears in every standard three-phase power or current formula.
This calculator expects line-to-line voltage for three-phase systems (e.g. 415 V) and line-to-neutral voltage for single-phase (e.g. 230 V), which is how supply voltage is normally specified on nameplates and utility connections in most countries.
This tool converts current to apparent power (kVA), which is what most nameplates, transformers, and generators are actually rated in. The kW ↔ Current calculator instead converts current to real power (kW), which requires a power factor since kW is only the useful portion of the total apparent power.